1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to silo filling apparatus and, more particularly, is concerned with an adjustable base unit for angularly adjusting the mounting disposition of a silo fill tube on a blower pipe of a silo filling apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A farm silo is used for the storage of livestock feed materials, such as ensilage or silage. A typical silo can be twelve to thirty feet in diameter and from forty to one-hundred feet in height. Conventionally, the silo is of a cylindrical configuration and has a vertically-extending continuous side wall. The side wall, being made of concrete or the like, is supported at a lower end on a base and extends upright therefrom to an opposite upper end enclosed with a dome-shaped roof structure, commonly made of sheet metal.
For filling the silo, it has been a common practice for many years to provide a silo filling apparatus which includes a blower pipe attached to and extending along the exterior of the side wall of the silo from its lower end to its upper end. The blower pipe extends adjacent to a ladder framework that is also attached to the exterior of the side wall of the silo and provides means for a man to climb up along the outside of the silo to the top thereof. The blower pipe is normally of sheet metal construction and circular in cross-section. A lower infeed end of the blower pipe is connected to a silage blower into which ensilage is unloaded from a wagon.
The silo filling apparatus also includes a fill conduit or tube mounted at an outer inlet end thereof to an upper discharge end of the blower pipe. The fill tube is rectangular in cross-section of a generally curved or arcuate configuration and commonly referred to in the industry as a xe2x80x9cgooseneckxe2x80x9d. The fill tube is disposed at the top of the silo, extending from the upper discharge end of the blower pipe at the exterior of the silo, through an opening in the silo roof, and arching inwardly to an inner discharge end positioned approximately centrally over the top of an interior storage chamber of the silo. The fill tube at its outer inlet end is typically connected in a fixed position to the upper discharge end of the blower pipe and supported therefrom in a cantilevered fashion.
Also, typically, the silo filling apparatus includes a relatively short straight pipe section attached to the inner discharge end of the fill tube. The pipe section is commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cdownspoutxe2x80x9d for directing the ensilage down toward the center of the base of the silo. The downspout is useful to drop or discharge the ensilage in a less air turbulent operation so as to assist in the discharge of the ensilage to a desired location within the silo.
Thus, in the silo filling operation, ensilage is blown up along the exterior of the silo through the blower pipe, up and across the interior of the top of the silo through the fill tube, and then down through the downspout toward the center of the base of the silo. For various reasons during the silo filling operation it is desirable to be able to control the position of the inner discharge end of the fill tube so as to be able to xe2x80x9caimxe2x80x9d the discharge flow of ensilage from the downspout to and toward a specific location within the silo. There are many different designs and constructions of fill tubes and many different attempts have been made to control the positioning of its inner discharge end, however, with varying degrees of success.
Consequently, a need still remains for an innovation which will provide an effective solution to the aforementioned problem without introducing any new problems in place thereof.
The present invention provides an adjustable base unit designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The adjustable base unit of the present invention, which is relatively simple and inexpensive in construction, is interposed between the upper discharge end of the blower pipe and the outer inlet end of the fill tube. The adjustable base unit is adapted for angularly adjusting the mounting disposition of the fill pipe on the blower pipe such that the fill tube can be pivoted relative to the blower pipe so as to place the fill tube at various angular dispositions such that its inner discharge end is thereby correspondingly moved to selected desired discharge locations at the top of the interior storage chamber of the silo. The adjustable base unit can be retrofitted to existing silo filling apparatus as well as provided as part of newly-installed silo filling apparatus.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an adjustable base unit for angularly adjusting the mounting disposition of a fill tube on a blower pipe of a silo filling apparatus. The adjustable base unit comprises: (a) an upper framework defining an upper opening of the unit and adapted to be detachably attached to an outer inlet end of the fill tube of the silo filling apparatus such that the upper opening is disposed adjacent to and generally aligned with the outer inlet end of the fill tube; (b) a lower framework defining a lower opening of the unit and adapted to be detachably attached to an upper discharge end of the blower pipe of the silo filling apparatus such that the lower opening is disposed adjacent to and generally aligned with the upper discharge end of the blower pipe; (c) a connection sleeve fixedly attached to the lower framework and adapted to extend between and through the upper and lower openings of the upper and lower frameworks, the connection sleeve having an upper end portion adapted to be inserted into the outer inlet end of the fill tube and a lower end portion adapted to be attached to the upper discharge end of the blower pipe such that the connection sleeve provides flow communication between respective passageways of the blower pipe and fill tube for passage of ensilage from the blower pipe to the fill tube; and (d) a plurality of elements adjustably interconnecting the upper and lower frameworks to one another in a spaced apart relationship from one another such that by adjusting selected ones of the interconnecting elements the upper framework can be angularly tilted in any one of several different orientations relative to the lower framework and the connection sleeve attached therewith so as to correspondingly angularly adjust the mounting disposition of the fill tube on the blower pipe and thereby the position of the fill tube within the silo.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.